Electronic selection of a field of view from a larger field of regard

Abstract

An electronic vertical adjustment focal plane assembly for electronic selection of a field of view from a larger field of regard is disclosed. In one embodiment, the electronic vertical adjustment focal plane assembly includes a lens assembly configured to focus radiation coming from an external field of view on to the focal plane assembly. Further, the electronic vertical adjustment focal plane assembly includes a fixed focal plane assembly that is oversized to substantially cover an entire field of regard and configured to receive the focused radiation from the lens assembly and to output a signal. Furthermore, the electronic vertical adjustment focal plane assembly includes a video controller electronically coupled to the signal from the fixed focal plane assembly and to generate an image based on an electronically selected desired elevational field of view.

1 . An electronic vertical adjustment focal plane assembly, comprising:
 a lens assembly configured to focus radiation coming from an external field of view on to the focal plane assembly;   a fixed focal plane assembly that is oversized to substantially cover an entire field of regard and configured to receive the focused radiation from the lens assembly and to output a signal; and   a video controller electronically coupled to the signal from the fixed focal plane assembly and to generate an image based on an electronically selected desired elevational field of view.   
     
     
         2 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a video display module configured to receive the generated image and display the generated image.   
     
     
         3 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the fixed focal plane assembly is a radiation detector assembly. 
     
     
         4 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the fixed focal plane assembly is configured to produce a VGA (640×480) resolution video signal. 
     
     
         5 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the fixed focal plane assembly is configured to produce a XGA (1024×768) resolution video signal. 
     
     
         6 . The assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the video controller is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) video controller. 
     
     
         7 . The assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a housing configured to house the lens assembly and the fixed focal plane assembly.